CPSC 327 Assessment and Policies

Assignments, handouts, and materials from class will be posted on the course web page, specifically the schedule page. You will need to check this page regularly to make sure you stay up-to-date.

Some things (such as warmups) may be posted on Canvas. There will always be a reference to the existence of this material on the schedule page so that you don't need to monitor both Canvas and the schedule page for due dates - use the schedule page for this.

Email will be used for individual communications and for time-sensitive announcements, so you should also regularly check your HWS email account.

Learning is much more effective if you are engaged in the material. You should come to class prepared for the day's activities, and should be on task during class - please do not surf the web, text, play games, do assignments for other courses, etc during class time.

Note taking on paper is encouraged as it avoids the distraction of electronic devices and the act of handwriting helps with retention of information. If you use a laptop or other device to take notes, you are encouraged to turn off notifications and close other applications to reduce the temptation of those distractions.

Arriving late, leaving early, and coming and going during class is distracting to me and your fellow classmates. Please endeavor to arrive on time, and to take care of any necessary business before or after class so you can be present for the whole class period. If you know in advance that you will need to miss part or all of a class, please let me know.

Programs will be graded primarily on correctness, but you should follow common conventions for readability such as the CPSC 329 coding standards. As with a paper that is poorly formatted, a program which is difficult to follow due to poor programming style may be marked down even if it otherwise satisfies the requirements of the assignment.

You are expected to be on time for all class sessions, and to be present and engaged in the class for the full period. ("Engaged" means paying attention and participating when appropriate, not just physically present but doing something else.)

While attending and participating in class should be a high priority, it is understood that there are sometimes circumstances when you may be unable to attend class. It is especially important that you not expose others to illness if you are sick.

If you miss class, you are responsible for making up missed content - make sure that you check the schedule page for new assignments and materials from class, and come to office hours if you have any questions or need help with any aspect of the material. This should be done promptly to avoid falling behind.

However, any absence, no matter the reason, puts a greater burden on you to catch up on content missed and means that you miss out on discussions, activities, and opportunities for participation and practice that take place in class. Students who regularly miss class often end up falling behind and not doing as well in the course.

As a result, missing more than six classes will lower your engagement grade. Missing four, five, or six classes will also lower your engagement grade unless you are proactive about communication regarding your absences (including notifying me of an upcoming absence as soon as you know about it), diligent about making up missed content, and more engaged in other aspects of the course (completing more warmups, participating in class, asking questions, etc).

Repeated late arrivals or early departures may be counted as an absence.

There is a steady workload throughout the course with frequent deadlines, and foundational topics introduced earlier are used and built on later in the course. This means that it is important to be organized and to stay on track. However, as with attendance, it is understood that there may sometimes be extenuating circumstances which make meeting every deadline difficult.

Every effort should be made to hand in homework and programming assignments on time, even if you are absent from class on the due date. Homework can be emailed if a hardcopy handin is not feasible, but this should be a last resort rather than routine practice.

Late work is only accepted as specified below.

• Partial credit will be given for warmups handed in after the 10pm deadline but before class the next day, and no credit after that. Warmups are intended to identify what needs further attention in class and will often be discussed in class, so they are less valuable after the fact.

• Homework and programming assignments will be graded twice - once after the initial deadline and once after the resubmit deadline. These can be handed in for full credit until the second grading, but anything handed in after the first grading is not eligible for a resubmit.

Extensions allow work to be handed in after the due date without penalty. Extensions are expected to be rare - they are intended to accommodate exceptional circumstances, not to routinely miss deadlines.

• Extensions will not be granted for warmups.

• For homework and programming assignments, extensions which allow for an initial handin and/or a resubmit after after the resubmit deadline require circumstances that are outside your control and which significantly impact your ability to focus on academics for several days or more.

Exams should be a high priority; the dates are on the schedule page so you can plan ahead.

• Exams will not be accepted late.

• If you have an unavoidable conflict with the date(s) of an exam, please see me as soon as possible (before the exam date!) to discuss options for rescheduling. Last minute rescheduling/extensions will not be accommodated for something known about in advance.

• If illness, a personal or family emergency, or another crisis outside your control occurs during an exam and keeps you from being able to finish or hand in the exam on time, let me know as soon as possible. Any extension will generally be for only a short period.

• Only your dean can reschedule the final exam.

No work will be accepted after the end of the Registrar-scheduled final exam time slot except in the case of an incomplete.

The HWS Principle of Academic Integrity, stated below, governs all of the work completed in this course. From the HWS Catalogue: (available online at https://www.hws.edu/catalogue/academic-policies.aspx)

Principle of Academic Integrity

The faculty of Hobart and William Smith Colleges has oversight of the curriculum and the classroom experience, and insists that students undertake all academic exercises with the utmost honesty and integrity. This principle of academic integrity lies at the heart of our learning community and forms the foundation for everyone's academic efforts.

Starting with adherence to the principle of academic integrity, the individual student bears responsibility for his or her own education and must undertake all academic work with complete honesty and integrity. As well, each student must do his or her best to assure that this principle extends to all others in the community. Categories of academic work covered by the principle of academic integrity include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Examinations: Giving or receiving assistance during an in-class or take-home examination, quiz, or any other academic exercise, except as specifically authorized by an individual course instructor, violates this principle.
• Papers: The presentation or reproduction of ideas, words, or statements of another person as one's own, without due acknowledgment, is considered plagiarism and violates this principle.
• Library Use: Failure to sign for materials taken from the library, destruction or theft of any library materials, and similar abuses of library privileges infringe upon the rights of other students to fair and equal access and violate this principle.
• Reports and Laboratory Exercises: Giving or receiving unauthorized assistance and the fabrication of data or research results violate this principle.
• Computer Use: Any deliberate attempt to prevent other users' access to computer services, deprive them of resources, or degrade system performance violates this principle. The use of programs or files of another computer user or the use of another person's account number or password without permission also violates this principle. Failure to attribute the source for any information or writing derived from any computer source (database, website, internet, etc.) and incorporated in any academic work submitted is also a violation.
• Advising and Registration Forms: Forging an adviser's signature or altering any signed document will result in the student's de-registration. The student will not be allowed to re-register until the adviser has approved any changes. Any student suspected of forgery of any faculty or administrator signature may face disciplinary action by the student's dean or the Committee on Standards, a faculty, student, and administrative committee charged with enforcing the academic and behavioral expectations of the Colleges' community (for more information about the Committee on Standards, please review the Disciplinary Process section, Hearing Bodies of the Community Standards).

Academic dishonesty is determined in every case by the evidence presented and not by intent. Questions of intent and circumstances under which an infraction occurred may be considered in determining a sanction.

• Exams measure your individual level of mastery of the course material, and thus are to be completed solely by the student whose name is on the paper. The only person you may discuss them with is the instructor, and the only resources you may use are those explicitly authorized in the exam instructions.

• Homework and programming assignments are for practice and learning. While it can be very productive to work on problems with your peers, it is also easy to underestimate how much you yourself understand and can do in such situations - so often something looks easy when someone else does it! With this in mind, you should always make the first attempt on a problem or programming task yourself; after that point, discussing aspects of the problem/solution with others is OK but you must write up your own solutions and write your own code. You may not collaboratively write solutions or code, and you may not copy solutions or code written by others, even if you contributed ideas.

• Warmups are about self-assessment and identifying points that need more attention in class. For that reason, they should be completed individually, without discussion with or help from others. (Though discussion is encouraged after you've submitted the warmup!) Warmups are graded on effort rather than correctness so your grade won't suffer if you don't get an answer right.

In all cases, copying part or all of someone else's solution or code is expressly prohibited and it is never acceptable to be in possession of someone else's program or solution before you have handed in your own. This includes both computer files and paper copies. Decompiling or reverse-engineering someone else's code (including provided code) is also prohibited. Even if you aren't copying exactly, using someone else's program or solution "as a guide" to completing your own is plagiarism - you are misrepresenting someone else's ideas and effort as your own. Furthermore, it is still plagiarism even when there's a right answer and anyone solving the problem would have arrived at a similar result - the salient point here is that you didn't arrive at the result by your own effort, and what you are handing in as your work is not an accurate reflection of your ideas about how to solve the problem.

The use of examples, however, is permitted and encouraged - examples are a primary means for learning new things. The difference between an example and a solution is that an example doesn't directly solve the problem - you must understand the ideas in the example and then apply those ideas in a new context.

Your first source of information should be the course materials (textbook, slides, and other materials made available on the course website) and reference materials linked on the course website, but unless otherwise prohibited (such as on exams), you can use other materials (such as reference books or websites) as technical references to learn about a particular topic (algorithm, data structure, technique, etc). However, looking for and/or copying a solution is not acceptable (even if you make some modifications) - the idea here is that someone else's solution is not helping you practice applying the material for yourself, and doesn't show your own level of mastery. Generative AI systems such as ChatGPT or Codex, "homework help" or "study aid" sites such as Chegg or Course Hero, and sites where you post a homework problem or question and solicit answers from others may not be used in the completion of graded work. (Use of generative AI for study purposes is discouraged since they are unreliable sources.)

If any case you are unsure about what is acceptable and what crosses the line when it comes to collaboration and use of outside resources, please ask first!

Note taking on paper is encouraged as it avoids the distraction of electronic devices and the act of handwriting helps with retention of information. (Anything that appears on the projector screen - slides or code - will be posted on the schedule page soon after class, so you don't need to copy down all of that material in your notes.) If you do use a laptop or other device to take notes, you are encouraged to turn off notifications and close other applications to reduce the temptation of those distractions.

There is a steady workload throughout the course, and foundational topics introduced earlier are used and built on later in the course. Review each day's material soon after class and start on homeworks early, take advantage of the problem sessions, and seek additional help promptly if you are stuck on something or want to discuss ideas. Letting a point of confusion slide often snowballs, and it is easy to find yourself falling behind.

Your first resource if you need help with any aspect of the course material should be the instructor - ask questions during class, stop by office hours, send email, or drop by or schedule a meeting.

For more general help, such as with writing, study skills, or time management, you are encouraged to check out the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL):

At Hobart and William Smith Colleges, we encourage you to learn collaboratively and to seek the resources that will enable you to succeed. The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is one of those resources: CTL programs and staff help you engage with your learning, accomplish the tasks before you, enhance your thinking and skills, and empower you to do your best. Resources at CTL are many: Teaching Fellows provide content support in 13 departments, Study Mentors help you manage your time and responsibilities, Writing Fellows help you think well on paper, and professional staff help you assess academic needs.

I encourage you to explore these and other CTL resources designed to encourage your very best work. You can talk with me about these resources, visit the CTL office on the 2nd floor of the library to discuss options with the staff, or visit the CTL website.

Study Mentors: The CTL resource especially valuable to students either just starting college OR adjusting to the demands of their choice of major is the Study Mentor program. Study Mentors engage directly with each student in the process of adjusting to new academic demands: they help you find the time you need for both your academic and co-curricular activities, and can help you find strategies to accomplish the tasks in front of you and enhance your reading and study time. Study Mentors may be especially important for those of you who are involved in many activities, work on or off campus, are studying for Teaching Certification, graduate school exams, or prepping for fellowships, or who have one or more unusually demanding courses on your schedule. To meet with a Study Mentor, make an appointment via StudyHub on the CTL website. You can also contact Ingrid Keenan, x3832, keenan@hws.edu, or drop in at the CTL office on the 2nd floor of the library.

It is the policy and practice of Hobart and Williams Smith Colleges to create inclusive learning environments. If you are a student with a disability and there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that present barriers to you, please begin the process of registering with Disability Services by completing the Intake Form on Accommodate.

Students are always welcome to contact the Disability Services team: Shanelle France, Associate Director of CTL for Disability Services and Thom Mascia, Disability Services Accommodation Manager are the main contact staff for Disability Services. Email: CTL@hws.edu Phone: 315-781-3351

Additional information can be found on the Disability Services webpage.

last updated: --Tue Jan 23 00:48:06 EST 2024--
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